Monday, June 26, 2017

Last week, I quickly mentioned flies. They are gross! With
all the outdoor (and sometimes dog friendly) sitting areas to restaurants now days
the flies seem to be coming in more contact with humans and humans’ food. Flies
spread disease. Flies walk around on some spoiled food in the dumpster, then
fly over to some dog poop, land on it, and the next thing you know they are on
your food. Gross! Not to mention the nuisance of “shooing” the flies away from
your food.

Gray Leaf Spot on St. Augustine grass was something I
mentioned last week. If you missed the article and would like to read it, go to
possumsupply.com and look under the Horticulture Hotline tab for archived
articles. When writing about the cultural practices to minimize Gray Leaf Spot,
I failed to mention that you should mow with a sharp mower blade. Some of the mower
blades that started the year off sharp are not so sharp anymore. You want a
clean cut on the grass blade. Not blunt force trauma.

One more item from last week. Saturday at the radio show
John Quincy (producer of “The Garden Clinic”) brought to Paul (Super Garden
Hero) Mulkey and my attention that mosquitoes kill over 1,000,000 people a
year. The deadliest insect in the world. Protect yourself!

Indian Hawthorn (AKA Raphs) have long finished blooming and
can be pruned as needed. Watch out for the leaf spot disease that attacks these
plants. If your plant’s foliage is thinning and it has spots on its leaves,
there is a good chance your plant is under attack. Honor Guard does a good job of keeping this
fungus in check; however, this disease will always be out there so regular
spraying is a must. Also, when spraying fungicides, it is important to switch
chemical classes to avoid resistance. If they do not need pruning, hold off,
because pruning encourages new growth and the disease likes new leaves.

If you are taking a vacation this summer and have St. Augustine grass, be sure to put out an insecticide to
protect your lawn from ‘the nasty rascal, the chinch bug’. Chinch bugs can do
serious damage in a very short period of time. They love and multiple greatly
in hot, dry weather, so this year has been a very bountiful year for them. Bug
Blaster, ECO VIA (National Organics Program compliant), or Allectus (a newer
product with some long-term control) should help you manage this lawn
terrorist.

Azaleas are getting ready to set their flower buds for next
year, so it is very important to do any pruning on these plants right away.
Even if you pruned them hard right after they bloomed, you can still do any
touch up pruning to manage any growth that might have occurred since the last
pruning. An application of KeyPlex or Mighty Plant should help them set more
blooms for next year. Watch out for lace bugs sucking on your plants.

Any of the repeat blooming azaleas (Encore, Red Slipper)
should be pruned right after they flower. If you prune fairly hard, you will
likely lose some of the next flush of blooms; however, they should get back in
sync fairly quickly, providing you multiple blooms.

A general rule of thumb is to be sure all your spring blooming
plants have been pruned. Gardenias (unless they repeat in August), Camellias,
Spirea, Forsythia, flowering quince …

If you haven’t fertilized your lawn, shrubs and trees, a
midsummer feeding is a good idea. With the heavy rains and all the growing they
have been doing, some food would be a great idea. I’m seeing a lot of yellow
grass in my travels. A soil test is always the best guide for fertilization.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Wasp, biting flies, flies, and mosquitoes – Tis the season.
The summer started out with three wasp nests on my front porch. One was right
by the door and two others were staring straight at you as you exited the front
door towards the street. A few days later, I’m letting Ol’Boy, my pound hound,
out of the back door, and there was a wasp nest right next to the door at eye
level. Whitmire’s Professional Strength Wasp Freeze handles the situation once
again. Wasp 0 me 2.

I felt like I was winning, until I went to my Mother’s house
to cook up some vittles on the grill. I turned on the gas (the gas must have aggravated
the wasp), then lifted the lid to light it. The wasp came pouring out of the
grill and bit me six times before I even knew what was going on. Wasp win this
battle.

Hopefully with the professional pest control managers and
the readers of the Horticulture Hotline help, the war will be won by the
humans, and only a few battles lost to the wasps.

The rains and high tides have the mosquitoes out in full
force. Protect yourself!

Between pop up thunderstorms, people going on vacation, and
people just not mowing enough, gray leaf spot has exploded on St. Augustine
grass.

Gray leaf spot (Pyricularia grisea) goes with St. Augustine like grits
go with shrimp! Or like chinch bugs go with St. Augustine! To battle gray leaf spot, you
are best employing many cultural practices and using limited control products
if necessary.

Gray leaf spot looks like someone burned or dripped acid on
the leaves of the plant.There are
little oblong spots on the leaf.Eventually, these spots grow together and the leaf blade dies.Whole areas of your grass can disappear at
once when these leaf blades die.

Culturally there are several things to do to minimize your
problem with gray leaf spot.This
disease likes high humidity and excessive nitrogen fertilizer.To help alleviate the high humidity, mow your
grass to a level that seems abnormal to St.
Augustine.Try
to get it down to 2 ½ - 3 inches depending on the variety of St. Augustine grass.Also try to mow every 3 – 5 days with a
bagger.This mowing will help get
sunlight down to the crown of the plant, drying the leaf blades as quickly as
possible.

Mowing is always hard to get someone to modify the frequency
of cuts. “The landscaper only comes every 7 or 14 days” or “I mow every
Saturday morning”, is what I usually hear. If you don’t want to cut it yourself
in between visits by the landscaper (saving a trip to the gym and I have been
told a cold beer is extra good after mowing), maybe you could hire a neighborhood
kid or your kid to just mow the grass. No edging, blowing or weeding, just a
quick mow.

Another alternative to you mowing is applying a growth
regulator to your turf. These products work great at slowing your turf’s growth
rate. Growth regulators are used extensively on golf courses and athletic
fields. Growth regulators do a great job of managing your turf’s growth rate on
your home lawn as well.

Consider trimming trees or shrubs to increase air movement
through your yard.

This fungus like most fungi likes hot humid weather.Minimize the amount you water as much as possible.Wait until your lawn is getting a blue/green
color and your foot prints stay in the lawn after you walk across it before you
water. Unfortunately, you can not control rainfall as easily. In the
Lowcountry, afternoon thunderstorms are a way of life, so keep the grass mowed
as low as you can so it will dry out quickly.

Hold off of the nitrogen fertilizer until you can get this
disease under control.If you need some
color, you could add a product like Possum’s Minors to give you some green without
all the nitrogen. Watch starving your grass because a malnourished yard is more
susceptible to disease. Very low rates of an organic fertilizer or cotton burr
compost might help it recover.

At Possum’s, I know we have had several customers that swear
they control this disease by using our wetting agent with biostimulants, cotton
burr compost, and / or SeaHume along with the above cultural practices.

If you have to resort to a control product, make sure the
product is labeled for Pyricularia grisea.There are many leaf spot diseases on labels of control products but only
certain products work on gray leaf spot on St. Augustine. We had one customer
come in that had been applying a product that controlled Drechslera spp. and
Biopolaris spp. leaf spot; however, the product was not labeled for Pyricularia
grisea (watch where you shop).

Honor Guard and Heritage are systemic products that you
spray. Since this is a leaf spot fungus, the sprays seem to give good coverage
over the leaf blade.If you would rather
use a granular product, Prophesy (same active as Honor Guard and Banner), or Fame
are granular systemic products that are absorbed through the roots and will do
a good job for you.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Time is flying by once again! School is getting out and it
is already June. The heat brings many situations in the landscape.

Right now, there is a great opportunity for those that love
fragrance. I know there are some manly men out there that would not admit this
because it would compromise their manhood, but two of the Lowcountry gems are
blooming now, and they smell great! The Magnolias and Gardenias will stop you
in their tracks with their fragrance.

Chinch Bugs are very active. If you have a sunny St.
Augustine lawn, it is time to get some protection out there on your turf.
EcoVia EC is an NOP (National Organic Program) compliant
product. Allectus is a long-term control product. Bug Blaster, Cyonara, Bifen,
and Lebanon Sevin will provide short term control.

Speaking of sunny yards, remember to protect yourself from
the sun. Since I hang around mostly people that spend time in the sun, I have
witnessed and heard about many sun related horror stories. These stories
revolve around getting areas cut out and tested for sun cancer.

Drain flies are becoming an issue with all the good local
vegetables and fruits being consumed in our kitchens. Using the scum eating
microbes in InVade BioDrain will help eliminate the organic build up in drains
that harbor the drain flies and the citrus oil will help reduce odors as well.
The EcoVia EC (National Organic Program compliant) will
help if they are already getting active.

Mosquitoes are out and about looking for a blood meal. The
high tides and the heavy rains we had have
ditches and other areas with enough water for mosquitoes to breed. Scout your
yard for potential breeding sites. EcoVia EC (National Organic Program
compliant) is great on mosquitoes for an organic approach. LambaStar for
conventional control.

Moles just have had their spring babies, so expect a surge
in their population – wonderful!

Japanese Beetles have emerged (pun intended) on the scene,
tearing up Crepe Myrtles, Roses, and many other plants. These heavy eaters are
easy to kill with a little persistence. Bifen, Cyonara, and many others will take
care of the Japanese Beetle. Traps also work if placed away from where the
preferred meal of the Japanese Beetle and are more of an organic approach.
EcoVia EC is a Botanical Insecticide that is NOP (National Organic Program)
compliant and works.

The baby mole crickets are hatching and the adults are dying
off. Now is a good time to ‘flush’ an area that you think you might have mole
crickets. Get two ounces of lemony dish soap in five gallons of water and
slowly pour it over a 2 x 2 area where you have tunneling damage by mole
crickets and see what comes out of the ground in the next 3 to 5 minutes. Depending
on your tolerance level, you can decide whether or not to treat. A golf green
would have zero tolerance because the tunnels would affect the ball roll. EcoVia
EC and Intice Perimeter are two NOP compliant products that should work good
for you. Allectus and Lebanon Sevin are conventional control products that will
‘kill the baby’ mole crickets.

Hello, my name is Bill and I have vines. Virginia creeper,
Smilax, and peppervine seem to be the worst. Luckily no poison ivy. Vines,
vines, everywhere are vines blockin out the scenery … (do you remember the 5
Man Electrical Band in 1971? Hi, my name is Bill and I’m old!)

About Me

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at http://www.possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to
“ The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from noon to 1:00, on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker).